Guest columnist Guernsey Finance chief executive Peter Niven tells how next month’s funds conference in London will benefit the island and the industry LONDON. The name is famous around the globe as a city where millions of people – in highly diverse ways – live, work and relax alongside each other.

More and more are forever drawn to the metropolis by the opportunities on offer, whether that be a job, business or as a tourist.

Indeed, many people living in Guernsey enjoy popping over for a short break to visit museums, hit the shops or maybe even go to the theatre.

Well, next month it will be the Guernsey Investment Funds Association, in conjunction with GuernseyFinance, putting on the show as the island’s sector takes centre stage in the English capital.

Guernsey Funds 2006 – The Alternative Solution, which takes place on Wednesday 27 September at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster, will be the first time the sector has hosted a major conference in London.

Promoting itself there is important because the city is a key source of new business and such a conference is a great platform to raise the sector’s profile, convey its key messages and showcase its expertise.

Being at such a prestigious location in the heart of the city, the conference will attract many fund business decision-makers and UK trade press journalists.

They will hear from and meet both practitioners from Guernsey’s funds sector and people from other places who benefit from doing business in Guernsey.

In essence, in the space of a day, a key audience will have been shown face-to-face – through Guernsey’s funds sector and third-party accreditation – the package that makes the island an international centre of choice.

It is apt that the conference comes at a time when the sector is particularly vibrant.

Funds under management and administration hit a new high of more than £111bn at the end of March – an increase of 47% year – on the year.

Senior figures in the sector have told me that growth levels show no sign of slowing down and that since the end of March there have been unprecedented levels of business.

The recent volatility in the markets is providing an opportunity for further moves into alternative investments, in particular hedge funds and funds of hedge funds, as well as private equity and real estate.

There is optimism about future growth fuelled, in part, by the fact that the working party reviewing investment sector legislation has recommended that it be streamlined.

This conference provides the perfect stage to show key decision makers in London and beyond how and why Guernsey is a first- choice centre for funds and the ideal solution for alternative investments.